Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

Secrets hide within the fog deep in the mossy forests of the Pacific Northwest in this ninth thrilling installment in award-winning author Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek K-9 mystery series.

Deputy Mattie Wray, formerly Mattie Cobb, is summoned to Washington’s Olympic peninsula for an urgent search and rescue mission to find a celebrity’s missing child. With only a week left before her wedding, Mattie is hesitant to leave Timber Creek, but her K-9 partner Robo’s tracking skills are needed.

Dense forest, chilling rain, and unfriendly locals hamper their efforts, and soon Mattie suspects something more sinister than a lost child is at play. When one of the SAR dogs becomes ill, her fiancé, Cole Walker, suspects poison. Fearing for Mattie’s and Robo’s safety, Cole joins the search and rescue team as veterinary support.

Secrets that have lain hidden within the rugged terrain come to light, and when it is uncovered that the missing child was kidnapped, the search becomes a full-blown crime scene investigation, forcing Mattie, Robo, and Cole into a desperate search to find the missing child before it’s too late.

My Review:

I love mysteries and crime thrillers and throw in an awesome service dog and I’m there. This is one of my favorite K-9 series and this installment becomes a page turner very quickly.

With one week to go before her wedding to Cole, a veterinarian, Maddie is called in to fly to the northwest in Washington state to find a missing child. The change in climate is a shock, cold, windy, and buckets of rain with the attendant saturated soil and underbrush and difficult not only for ground trackers but scent trackers as well. The atmospheric description really sets up the scene and becomes a strong integral part of the plot.

This is one reason I enjoy these books so much. You learn so much about canines, their atheleticism, and learning capacity. It’s such a part of the prep for search or take down, however, the info is easily slipped in and just adds the wow factor rather than slowing the pace.

When one of the other search dogs becomes sick, it’s apparent that he might have been poisoned and Cole makes arrangements to join her. Together with the search teams and local search and rescue, they form the grid and begin methodically canvassing the area which includes interviews with off-the-grid residents.

The tension ramps up as the search intensifies. There are a number of support characters and the parents present a divided and suspicious countenance. The story turns to a darker subject than I ever remember being used before and the climax is hard and fast.

The writing style throughout is engaging with no slack in the storyline. Robo shines as a masterful SAR dog, intuitive, smart, and protective. Love the action scenes. Heartily recommended.

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedurals, Women Sleuths
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
ASIN: B0CRTG7JRQ
Print Length: 252 pages
Publication Date: October 8, 2024
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Margaret Mizushima writes the award winning and internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. She serves as past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and was elected 2019 Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Active in the writing community, she is also a member of Sisters in Crime, Northern Colorado Writers, and Women Writing the West. She and her husband recently moved from Colorado to a home in the Pacific Northwest. Find her on Facebook/AuthorMargaretMizushima, Twitter @margmizu, Instagram @margmizu, and her website http://www.margaretmizushima.com.

#TuesdayBookBlog

To Catch a Spy by Mark ONeill #BookReview #HeistCrime

Book Blurb:

“A worthy sequel to the classic.” ― Harlan Coben

Estate approved sequel to the novel To Catch a Thief by David Dodge and 1955 Academy Award-winning film by Alfred Hitchcock

It’s been a year since John Robie, notorious Riviera jewel thief, proved his innocence by catching a copycat burglar. And it’s been a year since John has seen Francie Stevens, the adventurous socialite who not only saw through his disguise, but helped him catch the copycat. Now Francie is returning to the Riviera for its first-ever Fashion Week as a model for a top French designer, and John plans on rekindling their romance. But there’s a problem. While helping a friend, John chases down a mysterious courier, whose ruthless associates now want John dead. To make matters worse, when Francie arrives, she has a boyfriend in tow, and tells John that she wants nothing to do with him.

John has to figure out why he’s a hunted man, and why Francie is acting suspiciously. Digging deeper, he discovers a spy ring with evil intent. As John works unofficially to gather evidence, a question begins to haunt him―could Francie Stevens be a spy? With his enemies closing in, John turns to his cat burglar skills to try to save his life and expose the traitors. To survive, he has to catch the spies before they catch―and kill―a retired thief!

His Review:

John Robie is a very accomplished individual. He has trained as an acrobat in the circus and has maintained his climbing abilities throughout his life. He is an ex-patriot living on the French Riviera and has honed his craft as a jewel thief. He frequents the posh hotels and other places where the rich and famous go to play.

Francie Stevens is a young lady learning the modeling trade. She is very lovely and picks up the business fairly well. Some of the designers decide to use her in the upcoming fashion shows and she is quickly becoming famous. Many designers wish to engage her to promote their designs. She is new to the business and eager to please.

Francie has an off/again, on/again affair with John, and although they seem to hit it off, they soon part ways. She is lured by wealthy designers who want her to help with their clandestine activities. She does not know she is being used, but many of the designers are engaged in many nefarious activities. Francie is unknowingly drawn into this world and she is dragged into the world of espionage.

This story is well written and follows the format of a story written nearly a century earlier. The plot has many twists and will keep any reader glued to the outcome. The characters are particularly well developed. The French Resistance during WWII honed the skills of many of the participants. Enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

I read To Catch a Thief by David Dodge in January. While this author has been given approval to write this sequel by his estate and did an admiral job, there was a certain writing style to the original by David Dodge that I just didn’t quite find in this novel. The book will catch and hold your interest and attention but if you’ve read the original concept, (especially recently) might note a perceptible difference.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. Any opinion expressed here is my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Heist Crime, Heist Thrillers, International Mystery & Crime
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: ‎ 146422501X
ASIN: B0D1XMV53C
Print Length: 366 pages
Publication Date: April 1, 2025
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Mark ONeill - author — Author photo courtesy Goodreads author page

The Author: No bio

Winter Reading — AI generated by Freepik.com

From Here to the Great Unknown: A Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough #AudiobookReview #GriefandLoss

in Grief & Loss

Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Audiobook-2024 Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Memoir-2024

Book Blurb:

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK Born to an American myth and raised in the wilds of Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley tells her whole story for the first time in this raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir faithfully completed by her daughter, Riley Keough.

A PEOPLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

In 2022, Lisa Marie Presley asked her daughter to help finally finish her long-gestating memoir.

A month later, Lisa Marie was dead, and the world would never know her story in her own words, never know the passionate, joyful, caring, and complicated woman that Riley loved and now grieved.

Riley got the tapes that her mother had recorded for the book, lay in her bed, and listened as Lisa Marie told story after story about smashing golf carts together in the yards of Graceland, about the unconditional love she felt from her father, about being upstairs, just the two of them. About getting dragged screaming out of the bathroom as she ran toward his body on the floor. About living in Los Angeles with her mother, getting sent to school after school, always kicked out, always in trouble. About her singular, lifelong relationship with Danny Keough, about being married to Michael Jackson, what they had in common. About motherhood. About deep addiction. About ever-present grief. Riley knew she had to fulfill her mother’s wish to reveal these memories, incandescent and painful, to the world.

To make her mother known.

This extraordinary book is written in both Lisa Marie’s and Riley’s voices, a mother and daughter communicating—from this world to the one beyond—as they try to heal each other. Profoundly moving and deeply revealing, From Here to the Great Unknown is a book like no other—the last words of the only child of an American icon.

My Review:

Once again, confirmation that fame and fortune can be tragic. I do appreciate that we had Riley’s voice of calm reason and reflection to add to the tale and, of course, Julia Roberts (yes, Julia Roberts) narrates Lisa Marie’s portion of the audiobook. There were intermittent bursts of taped narrative by Lisa Marie as she attempted to recall and write her memoir. Unfortunately, for the most part, I was unable to understand them.

Of course Lisa Marie was Priscilla’s daughter and the only Elvis offspring. I greatly enjoyed the memories of her early childhood, stories of Graceland. But Lisa Marie had little adult supervision and is allowed free rein and she uses it in her teens to begin experimentation with booze and drugs.

As an adult, Lisa Marie finds love; Danny Keough (Riley’s father), compulsiveness, and a wide range of men from Michael Jackson to Nicholas Cage. (Riley, btw, is now the sole trustee of Graceland. Riley played a credible Daisy Jones in Daisy Jones and the Six in 2023.)

Yes, there is a lot of name dropping, they certainly ran in the inner circles which only confounded Lisa Marie’s place in life even more—was she merely a shadow of her father carrying his name? Her memories of him were loving and impactful, his early death a blow from which she only gradually lived with, but not well.

Priscilla Presley is painted as a stern, hands-off mother and figures in the book probably about the same way she did in Lisa Marie’s life—almost as a footnote. Riley does a good job using her mother’s tapes and memories to fill in the blanks and does so with a loving perspective. While her mother became deeply flawed and she lost her brother largely as a result, she struggles to tell their stories truthfully. She believes this is the way it was. A fine tribute to her mother as she completed the memoir her mother left upon her death in January of 2023.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts. It’s sad, tragic, and a grim epitaph.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Grief & Loss, Grief & Bereavement, Biographies of Celebrities & Entertainment Professionals
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B0CRSDK1Q8
Listening Length: 5 hrs 42 mins
Narrator: Riley Keough, Julia Roberts
Publication Date: October 8, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links: Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Authors:

Lisa-Marie Presley

Lisa Marie Presley was a singer and songwriter who was born in Memphis and raised at Graceland as the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. She released three studio albums throughout her music career—To Whom It May Concern, Now What, and Storm & Grace, the first of which was certified gold. Lisa Marie passed away in January 2023.

Riley Keough

Riley Keough is an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Independent Spirit Award–nominated actress. She is known for her work in Daisy Jones & the Six, Zola, and more. She also co-directed War Pony (2022), which won the Caméra d’Or for best first feature at Cannes, and cofounded the production company Felix Culpa with Gina Gammell. She is the eldest daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and sole trustee of Graceland.

The Narrator:

Julia Roberts

“I was so moved by Lisa Marie’s incredible memoir,” Roberts tells PEOPLE, in an exclusive statement. “It was a real privilege to give voice to her wild and beautiful life and I deeply appreciate Riley entrusting me with her mother’s story.”

Dogs reading cell phone

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The Crossing Places: The First Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths #BookReview #ThrowbackThursday

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

Ruth Galloway Series Book 1

Book Blurb:

The first entry in the acclaimed Ruth Galloway series follows the “captivating”* archaeologist as she investigates a child’s bones found on a nearby beach, thought to be the remains of a little girl who went missing ten years before.

Forensic archeologist Dr. Ruth Galloway is in her late thirties. She lives happily alone with her two cats in a bleak, remote area near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants—not quite earth, not quite sea. But her routine days of digging up bones and other ancient objects are harshly upended when a child’s bones are found on a desolate beach. Detective Chief Inspector Nelson calls Galloway for help, believing they are the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing a decade ago and whose abductor continues to taunt him with bizarre letters containing references to ritual sacrifice, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Then a second girl goes missing and Nelson receives a new letter—exactly like the ones about Lucy.

Is it the same killer? Or a copycat murderer, linked in some way to the site near Ruth’s remote home?

My Review:

Dr. Ruth Galloway is a forensic archeologist at the University of North Norfolk. Don’t ask me why, but I liked this protagonist almost immediately. She is in her late thirties, lives with her two cats on an ancient spit of land between sea and land on the Saltmarsh coast. She is very isolated and seems to love it, despite the almost daily miserable gray and stormy conditions battering her small cottage.

When she is asked to accompany DCI Nelson to a desolate area near the area where bones are found, he is hoping she can identify a missing child in his caseload. He is enormously magnetic and catches Ruth’s eye, but she can discern immediately that the bones are probably Iron Age. Still, there is another missing child and he’s back.

Ruth is an interesting MC, easy to invest in, and will no doubt be more deeply developed in succeeding installments. The support characters are developed only as far as need be, but the overwhelming star of the show is the area. The writing chills, planting horrendous scenic storms in the mind’s eye. The area is desolate, wet, cold, foreboding.

I loved the detailed description of the Saltmarsh, the Henge Circle, the old legends and ancient myths. Lots to learn, love that history.

“Herbs picked on St John’s Eve have special healing powers.”

“The past is dead. She, as an archaeologist, knows that better than most. But she knows too that it can be seductive.”

It’s dark, creepy, and the writer takes her time with divulging little nuances, secrets, clues. I suspected the ultimate perp, was right, but wanted to see how it all played out. Yeah, I’m hooked and apparently this series went on audiobooks, so I’ll be looking for those next.

I received a copy of this book from my library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Traditional Detective Mysteries, Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Amateur Sleuths
Publisher: Mariner Books: First Edition
ASIN: B003UV90G6
Print Length: 306 pages
Publication Date: January 5, 2010
Source: Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Elly Griffiths - author — Elly Griffiths – author

The Author: Thank you for visiting my Amazon author page! I’m the author of two crime series, the Dr Ruth Galloway books and the Brighton Mysteries. Last year I also published a stand-alone, The Stranger Diaries, and a children’s book, A Girl Called Justice. I have previously written books under my real name, Domenica de Rosa (I know it sounds made up).

The Ruth books are set in Norfolk, a place I know well from childhood. It was a chance remark of my husband’s that gave me the idea for the first in the series, The Crossing Places. We were crossing Titchwell Marsh in North Norfolk when Andy (an archaeologist) mentioned that prehistoric people thought that marshland was sacred ground. Because it’s neither land nor sea, but something in-between, they saw it as a bridge to the afterlife; neither land nor sea, neither life nor death. In that moment, I saw Dr Ruth Galloway walking towards me out of the mist…

I live near Brighton with Andy. We have two grown-up children. I write in a garden shed accompanied by my cat, Gus.

Graphic courtesy Canva.com

Half Moon Bay: A Novel by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Clay Edison #3

Book Blurb:

Clay Edison has his hands full. He’s got a new baby who won’t sleep. He’s working the graveyard shift. And he’s trying, for once, to mind his own business. Then comes the first call. Workers demolishing a local park have made a haunting discovery: the decades-old skeleton of a child. But whose? And how did it get there?

No sooner has Clay begun to investigate than he receives a second call – this one from a local businessman, wondering if the body could belong to his sister. She went missing 50 years ago, the man says. Or at least I think she did. It’s a little complicated.

And things only get stranger from there. Clay’s relentless search for answers will unearth a history of violence and secrets, revolution and betrayal. Because in this town, the past isn’t dead. It’s very much alive. And it can be murderous.

My Review:

I really like the way the authors suffuse the professional with the personal. So many times, we see a technician going about their business and wonder what their home life looks like: six kids, a spouse equally harried, and a mortgage whose interest rates keep climbing?

In this case, Clay Edison is a new papa. The baby, as most, doesn’t sleep. Clay is working the graveyard shift so his wife can be home and she works days. It should work—doesn’t always.

Unfortunately, his call out is to the discovery of a very old skeleton—that of a small child. Whose? And how did it come to be buried in a park?

Clay might be the personification of a new dad, his baby girl Charlotte has a lot to teach him. The stark difference between his anxious self and his professional self is often laid bare by his self-talk, his first person POV.

The development of the characters in this series has been fun, and each new installment has brought growth and get-to-know-you sessions. I like Clay. He’s smart, dominating, and a strong personage around his peers, though he can be soft and sympathetic with the loved ones he must deal with in his professional capacity.

It doesn’t help that the park and the site of the skeleton is located in Berkeley, always a hotbed of political turmoil and protests. He may have a major development in the phone call from a man claiming that it may be his sister…but he can only supply a minimal amount of background to interest Clay further into the investigation.

The storyline wavers a bit with a couple of small branches off the main plot, but then I wouldn’t expect this would be Clay’s only case. It might create a slight lull in the pacing of the main plot, but there is always another tiny clue.

I’m not sure it would be classified as a slow-burn story as there is usually a lot going on and the characters, including Clay’s wife, Amy, supply a lot of lively dialogue. (I still haven’t warmed up to Amy though.) Of course, the flashbacks to the 60’s and 70’s drew me in. There are twists, divulged secrets, and evil doers as these things are never just simple straight forward…who is the skeleton.

Personally, I really enjoyed the novel and this series, one to go (Book 2), and just got it. I’ll recommend again. If you haven’t checked out this series yet and you found Alex Delaware a bit stodgy at times, you might find the collaboration between this father and son might be just what you were looking for.

I received a copy of this audiobook from my local library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Thrillers, Suspense, Mysteries
Publisher: Random House Audio
Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris
ASIN: B0863359SD
Listening Length: 9 hrs 35 mins
Publication Date: July 21, 2020
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Authors:

Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than three dozen bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer’s Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored The Golem of Hollywood and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California, New Mexico, and New York.

Read more at:
http://www.jonathankellerman.com/

Jesse Kellerman

Jesse Kellerman has written dozens of plays and published seven novels, two of them cowritten with his father, Jonathan Kellerman. He has won numerous awards, including the Princess Grace Award for Playwriting (“Things Beyond Our Control”) and the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle (“The Genius”/”Les Visages”). His novel “Potboiler” was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. An essay, “Let My People Go to the Buffet,” was included in Penguin’s Best American Spiritual Writing (2011). His next book, Crime Scene, was also cowritten with Jonathan Kellerman and will be published in fall 2017. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and children.

The Narrator:

Dennis Boutsikaris

Dennis Boutsikaris was born December 21, 1952 in Newark, New Jersey, to a Greek American father and Jewish mother,^[1] and grew up in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.^[2] He took up acting while a student at Governor Livingston High School, because he felt he was too small to succeed in athletics.^[3] A graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Boutsikaris toured the country with John Houseman’s The Acting Company doing classical theatre. Boutsikaris was married to actress Deborah Hedwall; they divorced in 2002.

He can be heard in over 160 audiobooks and has received eight Audie Awards and two Best Voices of the Year Awards from AudioFile Magazine.^[14] He was voted Best Narrator of the Year by Amazon for The Gene.

Find him at:
http://www.dennisboutsikaris.com *

*Thanks to Wikipedia for this info.

Graphic by Canva.com

All We Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Book Blurb:

When Mattie Taylor’s twin brother was killed in Vietnam, she lost her best friend and the only person who really understood her. Now, news that her mother is dying sends Mattie back home, despite blaming her father for Mark’s death. Mama’s last wish is that Mattie would read some old letters stored in a trunk, from people Mattie doesn’t even know. Mama insists they hold the answers Mattie is looking for.

1942. Ava Delaney is picking up the pieces of her life following her husband’s death at Pearl Harbor. Living with her mother-in-law on a secluded farm in Tennessee is far different than the life Ava imagined when she married only a few short months ago. Desperate to get out of the house, Ava seeks work at a nearby military base, where she soon discovers the American government is housing Germans who they have classified as enemy aliens. As Ava works to process legal documents for the military, she crosses paths with Gunther Schneider, a German who is helping care for wounded soldiers. Ava questions why a man as gentle and kind as Gunther should be forced to live in the internment camp, and as they become friends, her sense of the injustice grows . . . as do her feelings for him. Faced with the possibility of losing Gunther, Ava must choose whether loving someone deemed the enemy is a risk worth taking, even if it means being ostracized by all those around her.

In the midst of pain and loss two women must come face-to-face with their own assumptions about what they thought they knew about themselves and others. What they discover will lead to a far greater appreciation of their own legacies and the love of those dearest to them.

My Review:

It hasn’t been that long since I read and reviewed Appalchian Song in August 2024, my first from this author. She used a dual timeline then, as in this novel as well, dividing two main POVs between WWII and Vietnam. Seems I always gravitate more to one timeline and character than the other, and in the case, it was the 40s with Ava Delaney.

Guard Tower at Camp Forrest courtesy US Air Force and Densho Encyclopedia

Ava Delaney is the more liberal, befriending a German classified as an enemy alien during WWII. She secured a job at Camp Forrest in Tullahoma following her husband’s death at Pearl and finds herself attracted to Gunther (who for a short time has his own POV), a medical student prior to his delivery to the internment camp that was part of the massive base in Tennessee. Granted, she didn’t really know her husband and honest in her reason for the marriage, was more for security than love.

Mattie Taylor loses her twin brother to the war in Vietnam a little more than a generation later. She left her parents’ home shortly after the funeral, furious with their lack of opposition to his joining the Marines with his best friend through childhood. Her brother doesn’t come home, his best friend does but with the loss of an arm.

She has returned home following time on the West Coast where she had turned on, tuned out, and dropped out as so many did during the 60s in protest to the war most thought we had no business being in. More than bitter, she seethes fury at anyone backing the government’s involvement that led to her brother’s death and except that she returned to say goodbye to her now terminal mother, would otherwise have continued the life of a “hippie” in a San Francisco commune.

She is developed as petulant, spoiled, ignorant, selfish, and lacking the ability to support anyone other than those who agree with her ideology, which she repeats—more than once.

(This one hits hard since I lost a brother and both he and my husband were conscripted at the same time. Not like they had a choice back then. Whether or not we agreed with the US position (and we didn’t), we tried hard to support our boys, which was made difficult by those who didn’t.)

So, yeah, I did get very weary of Mattie’s position; the loss is devastating no question. But she got very tiresome.

What I did enjoy was the slow discovery of Amy’s story. Again, not sure I could put myself in those shoes, but the measured delivery of how it all came together became obvious.

The writing style is gripping. There are a few twists. There are themes of the futility of war, the physiological and psychological damage to those involved and the resulting damage to the family unit as well as the community, terminal illness, and hope.

Does Mattie ever relax that resentment, begin to see others first, discover ways she can make a difference in their lives as well as her own? You’ll have to read the book and determine for yourself. It just might be the binge-reader you’ve been looking for!

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Southern United States Fiction, Southern Fiction, Christian Historical Fiction
Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
ISBN: 1496484177
ASIN: B0CW1M4P8D
Print Length: 359 pages
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Source: Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels, including COUNT THE NIGHTS BY STARS, winner of the 2023 Christianity Today Book Award in Fiction, and UNDER THE TULIP TREE, a Christy Award and Selah Award finalist. As a woman of mixed heritage–her father’s family is Hispanic and her mother’s roots go back to Germany–she has always celebrated diversity and feels it’s important to see the world through the eyes of one another. Learning from the past and changing the future is why she writes historical fiction.

With both her sons grown, Michelle and her husband make their home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about.

Michelle loves hearing from readers! Connect with her at http://www.MichelleShocklee.com

Graphic courtesy Canva.com

The Burning and The Lost Coast by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday

Clay Edison – Books 4 and 5

The Burning

Book Blurb:

Things get personal for Deputy Coroner Clay Edison when a murder hits close to home in this riveting, emotional thriller from the best-selling father-son team that writes “brilliant, page-turning fiction” (Stephen King).

A raging wildfire. A massive blackout. A wealthy man shot to death in his palatial hilltop home.

For Clay Edison, it’s all in a day’s work. As a deputy coroner, caring for the dead, he speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves. He prides himself on an unflinching commitment to the truth. Even when it gets him into trouble.

Then, while working the murder scene, Clay is horrified to discover a link to his brother, Luke. Horrified. But not surprised. Luke is fresh out of prison and struggling to stay on the straight and narrow.

And now he’s gone AWOL.

The race is on for Clay to find him before anyone else can. Confronted with Luke’s legacy of violence, Clay is forced to reckon with his own suspicions, resentments, and loyalties. Is his brother a killer? Or could he be the victim in all of this, too?

This is Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman at their most affecting and pause-resisting – a harrowing collision of family, revenge, and murder.

My Review:

It’s a story that hits too close to home for Clay Edison, Deputy of the County Coroner’s Office. He is sent to the home of a dead man but is jolted when he spots his brother’s car in the garage. It’s not like he can point that out without severe repercussions for his brother as he is not that long out of prison. With his brother’s track record, he is torn between wanting to believe he had nothing to do with the deceased, but…

In the meantime, he needs to talk to Luke and that’s the rub. Luke is not answering his phone and his wife is not exactly coming forth with the why or how of him going missing.

I like the character of Clay and we get to learn about him in this installment, as well as peek into his fatherhood role. He continues to push the boundaries of his job description and in this installment is well over propriety. There are also some strong, well developed support characters, but I’m not a huge fan of his wife, Amy.

I actually started this series with Book 1, Crime Scene. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, how very unusual! True. I was a solid fan of Kellerman’s Alex Delaware novels, so I did have some experience with Jonathan and Book 1 definitely hooked me, not only with the premise of the protagonist coming from a different angle into the investigation, but also totally loved the narrator, Dennis Boutsikaris. His delivery is extremely dynamic providing realistic dialogue between characters. So yeah, as mentioned in my review of Crime Scene, I got on the wait list for Books 2, 3, 4, and 5. Well, these popped up first. (At this point, don’t you know I’m compelled to complete the entire series.)

There are some twists and I do enjoy the authors writing style. Their collaboration produces an interesting plot, if not entirely unique, lively and well paced.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Thrillers, Suspense, Mysteries
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B0977QL7GY
Listening Length: 7 hrs 30 mins
Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris
Publication Date: September 21, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Burning – Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Lost Coast

Book Blurb:

Cut loose from his former life at the coroner’s office, Clay Edison has set up shop as a private investigator. It’s steady, safe work. Until it isn’t.

The trouble begins when a young man, tasked with managing his grandmother’s estate, hires Clay to examine some minor financial discrepancies. What starts off as a case of simple fraud rapidly explodes into a web of deception, an elaborate con game stretching back decades and involving countless victims.

All the evidence points to a tiny town on California’s rugged, remote Lost Coast. Good luck getting there, though. And Clay’s reward for surviving the journey is a trigger-happy welcoming committee, ready to guard their secrets with lethal force.

Navigating this landscape of savage waves and savage lies brings Clay into collision with a host of other players: a grieving mother, an enigmatic teenager, a reclusive military veteran, a foul-mouthed PI pursuing her own agenda. And the price of truth will turn out to be higher—and deadlier—than Clay could have imagined.

From the minds of Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman comes a heart-stopping tale of deception and redemption—bursting with action, suspense, and unforgettable characters.

My Review:

Ugh! I hate it when the main character totally changes everything, well, almost, as somewhere between Books 4 and 5, Clay Edison goes from being a County Coroner to a PI. Wha??? I signed up because I thought he was going to do forensics stuff. Nope, now he is the guy with a license (not badges). And as if he ever did, no longer worries about rules or laws.

Eager to take on new cases, he is looking into what might be a real estate fraud for a client. There are some intriguing unanswered questions, and failing to get enough info online or research decides he must drive to Swan’s Landing. The little town is remotely located on the Lost Coast of California, barely accessible on the roughest of roads and goat trails or by boat. Few inhabitants or services are available and the simple real estate fraud case begins to split into a suspenseful sub-plot.

The Kellermans take their time building the plot amid a masterfully painted description of the desolation and wild mountains on the rugged northern coast of California. (And I might add—as wild and beautiful as it is remote.) Equally well developed are the local inhabitants, unique, each viewing Edison as an outsider.

The storyline is finely paced, allowing the reader to savor the building tension with the discovery of each new piece of information. While my heart sank just a bit in the denouement, all loose threads were creatively woven into place.

It’s the fifth in the series, not sure there’ll be a sixth, although if there is, I’ll be there to sign up. In the meantime, look for future reviews of Books 2 and 3 when I get them. Book 5 might well be read as a standalone—he switched jobs—but not personality and there is a few backstories filling in blanks. Still, you might wish to read Clay Edison the coroner as well as Edison the PI just to get a flavor of the change in depth of the storyline.

I downloaded a copy of these audiobooks from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Private Investigator Mysteries, Crime Fiction
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B0CN3RYNZ3
Listening Length: 8 hrs 19 mins
Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Lost Coast – Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Authors:

Jonathan Kellerman

Read more at:
http://www.jonathankellerman.com/

Jesse Kellerman

The Narrator:

Dennis Boutsikaris

Dennis Boutsikaris was born December 21, 1952 in Newark, New Jersey, to a Greek American father and Jewish mother,^[1] and grew up in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.^[2] He took up acting while a student at Governor Livingston High School, because he felt he was too small to succeed in athletics.^[3] A graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Boutsikaris toured the country with John Houseman’s The Acting Company doing classical theatre. Boutsikaris was married to actress Deborah Hedwall; they divorced in 2002.

Find him at:
http://www.dennisboutsikaris.com *

*Thanks to Wikipedia for this info.

The God of the Woods: A Novel by Liz Moore #Audiobook #FamilyLifeFiction

#11 this week

Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Readers’ Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2024)

Book Blurb:

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2024
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLER OF 2024
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF 2024
PEOPLE MAGAZINE’S #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR
A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY TOP 10 PICK OF 2024
ONE OF NPR’S “BOOKS WE LOVE” 2024
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S “100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024”

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

My Review:

Longer doesn’t always equate with better.

I’m the salmon battling up the river and over all the fish ladders as this novel appears to have done quite well and as usual I wasn’t all that thrilled.

While it started out with a hook and sparked my interest, the further I got into it, the less compelled I was to continue.

A seventeen-year-old girl disappears from summer camp and in the search for her the reader is introduced to myriad characters and their own POVs. Unfortunately, many times it is also the cause of timeline switches which disrupted the train of thought, derailed the plot line for me while I tried to digest the new time, the character in that time frame, and how they related to poor Barbara Van Laar whose family owns the camp.

Her brother disappeared from the same camp fourteen years previously. Yeah, now introduce a subplot. Why and how did he disappear?

What began as a nice pace became a slow burn, a mystery, that the longer the search, the more characters, timeline switches, and dysfunctional family memories are shared, the less I cared about any of them.

While there are some truly badass women, they are countered by milksops. My favorite character is TJ. She is smart, solid, and doesn’t let the money power behind the Van Laars lessen her authority. When it’s time for Alice’s POV (she is such a mess), I just want to slap her up the side of the head and tell her to shut up.

Well, are they ever going to find her? I don’t know—did you successfully navigate the twists and turns that lead nowhere? There is an interesting writing style, you can’t say the characters are not fully developed, but the atmosphere of the woods and the camp gets depressingly descriptive at times. Short chapters and slow passages kept me reading when I’d hit another interesting advance to the storyline. It was touch and go.

Perhaps better for you if you enjoy slow burn mysteries and character driven timeline switches. In any case, maybe that denouement will catch you by surprise. By that time though it just seems obvious.

I received an audiobook of this title from my local library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Family Life Fiction, Literary Fiction, Psychological Thrillers
Publisher: Riverhead Books
ISBN-10: ‎ 0593418913
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0593418918
ASIN: B0CL1YQLB5
Print Length: 490 pages
Publication Date: July 2, 2024
Source: Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Liz Moore is the author of five novels: The Words of Every Song, Heft, The Unseen World, the New York Times-bestselling Long Bright River, and The God of the Woods. A winner of the 2014 Rome Prize in Literature, she lives in Philadelphia and teaches in the MFA program in Creative Writing at Temple University.